American History Hit

Vice President to a narrow election winner, Chester Arthur was a very unlikely President. But on September 20th 1881 he took his seat as the 21st President of the United States at the dawn of the modern administrative state and presidency.

So what kind of President did he become? Was he progressive? What was his role in the creation of the Civil Service? And how did the Presidency impact him as a person?

Don is joined by Michael J...

11 Tonys, a Grammy, a Pulitzer Prize and broken box office records - there's no denying the impact of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton.

Throughout this series on the real Hamilton, we have been trying to uncover the man the musical is based on. But how much of the show and its production is truthful? And how much does this matter?

Renee Romano joins Don to look into this new American Myth...

Today we dive into the little-known true story of American castaways abandoned on the Falkland Islands during the War of 1812 ― a tale of treachery, shipwreck, isolation and a desperate struggle for survival.

In this fascinating episode, best-selling author Eric Jay Dolan joins Don to explore this wild encounter between an American sealing vessel, a shipwrecked British brig and a British warship in the desolate Falklands, all while the two nations remained at war...

When Alexander Hamilton took a bullet to the abdomen on the morning of the 11th July 1804, he joined a long list of people who had fallen foul of this very strange practice...

This may have been the second shortest Presidency in the history of the United States, but the term of James Garfield is definitely not one to miss.

From his dark horse nomination to his assassination by Charles Guiteau, Don is speaking with bestselling author of ‘An Assassin in Utopia,' Susan Wells.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long...

Founding Father, first Secretary of the Treasury and focus of one of the world's first political sex scandals - we couldn't do a series about Alexander Hamilton without touching on his personal life.

Don is joined by Elizabeth Cobbs in this episode to explore the private lives of the Hamiltons...

Theodore Roosevelt is arguably the most masculine president in American history. So how was he influenced by the women around him? And how was he impacted by the deaths of two of them on the same day?

In this episode, Edward O'Keefe introduces us to Theodore Roosevelt's mother, two sisters, and two wives: Mittie, Bamie, Conie, Alice and Edith...

Who really was Alexander Hamilton, and what do we actually know about his life?

A Founding Father, he fought in the Revolutionary War, founded the American financial system and was the first ever Secretary of the Treasury...

Emerging victorious from an electoral quagmire in 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes became the 19th President of the United States.

Professor Mark Zachary Taylor joins Don to explore the first great depression and how Hayes navigated the US towards recovery from it.

From strike and unrest to growth and stability, how did Hayes lay the groundwork for economic prosperity?

Produced by Freddy Chick. Edited by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long...

An iconic signature on the Declaration of Independence - that is what John Hancock is best known for. But how did he come to be the first signatory? What was his role in the American Revolution?

Brooke Barbier joins Don in this episode to take us through the life and works of John Hancock, and to explain how he got the nickname, 'King Hancock'...